City for American Dreams And Lies
by Dragasen
Summary: Jack lives in Liberty City, he has a daughter and a Best friend, the closest he can get to family. His wife stepped out years ago, and he has to deal with the drug lords, russian mafia, and of course, the creeps of Liberty city. He handles it mature...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: It's A Girl!

"Push! Push, honey!"

"I'm pushing you pathetic waste of a person! SHUT UP!"

Jack smirked at her comment, Someone is pretty pissed he thought. "I'm not pissed! I'm having a God damn baby you idiot!"  
Jack widen his eyes, How the hell did she do that? The doctor cut into the noise of screaming and cursing, "It's out!... And it's a girl!"

Jack sighed, Thank GOD it's a girl. He watched as Cindy held her baby, "She's so cute! Unlike you, Jack. You could have helped the doctor!"

Jack grinned, "The sight of seeing a baby being born kinda weirds me out."

"But the sight of a baby being made does something else to you." Cindy said back, her smile larger than ever.  
Jack made his way by Cindy's side, "She's gonna be a head turner when she's older." Cindy handed the baby to Jack, who carefully held her.

"God, it's a girl..." he whispered.

His best friend, Gary, walked by his side. He smiled, "What's so bad about her being a girl?"

"Nothing, it's just that... when she starts dating, I'm not going to have a clue what to do..."  
Gary patted Jack, "Don't worry man," he tickled the baby's tiny had, "when the time comes, you'll know. Every father does."

Jack repeated, "Every father does."

Ten Months Later

Jack lifted his head, a noise woke him in the night. He quickly turned on the lap to his right. In the dim light he saw Cindy holding a bag. "Cindy, what in God's name are you doing?" he asked, his eyes twitching from the sudden light.  
"I'm leaving, Jack."

"Why the !#& are you leaving?"

"I'm going to Vice City. I'm going to live with my parents."

"Why the hell are you going to Florida? We're fine in the city!"

"No, Jack. You're fine in the city. I'm leaving."

"What about Katie?"

"You're her father, take care of her."

Cindy stormed out the door. Jack lay his head back on the pillow. He couldn't comprehand what was going on. Why was Cindy leaving? How could she leave her daughter like this?

Jack jumped out of bed. He slowly walked towards Katie's room. The hallways were pitch black, and he hit his foot on a toy truck.  
Rubbing his leg as he walked into the dimly lit pink room of his daughter, he made his way to her crib.

She was sound asleep. Jack gently lifted her from her crib, then rocked her gently back and forth. Her bright green eyes stared at Jack now, a smile on her face. "Mommy's not here right now Katie... But I'll try my best to do both jobs. I'll try."  
Jack stared at her face, which stared back. He then whispered, "I love you." as low as he could.

"Dadda."

Jack's eyes widen, 'Dadda' played over and over in his skull. Her word stung him. Her word stung him so badly, like a dagger through the heart, and yet she had no clue what she was saying. He couldn't understand why it hurt so much, then he thought Maybe this is one of the challenges of being a father... He then thought And I hope there are no more...  
Jack continued to rock back and forth, singing a quiet song his mother sang him.

Five years later

Jack quietly drove from Broker, the radio so low he could barely hear it. Around his neck was a golden locket. It blew in the wind as he drove. A cold night, freezing his skin off, but he continued to drive. The more clothes he wore, the colder he was. It seemed like this never fixed the cold. It seemed like, when it was warm outside, it's still cold. Everything was cold. When he had the heat on at home, he was cold. When he rubbed up against the heater at work, he was cold.  
Then, when he thought about it, the only time he wasn't cold is when he was with his daughter.

He checked his watch, 12:32 am. She was asleep at Gary's by now. He sighed, he never got a chance to spend time with his daughter. Whenever he was off work, she was at school. Whenever she was out of school, he had to pay the bills. Never in his lifetime did he feel so dull. His mind wondered onto small things that would never happen. He sometimes prayed that he would be fired, just so that he could spend time with his daughter. But he knew that would be a bad move.

Gunfire. He hated Broker. The worst part of the city, in his opinion. He sped up a little, trying to hurry to Bohan. He turned up the radio slightly, and switched to Liberty Rock. His favorite station. He continued along the black road, dim street lights and his headlights were all that lit the streets. He looked up into his left mirror. He car had pulled up behind him.  
He came to a red light, and waited. Drumming his fingers on the dashboard, he looked out into the empty streets. The sounds of distant dog barks and glass breaking could be heard. His gray eyes scanned the area, noticing a pit bull walking on the sidewalk.

Greenlight.

He gently stepped on the gas. The car drove down the street, the dog barking had not stopped. He grabbed the can of sprunk from the cup holder and gulped down the last few drops.

Sometime later he was back in Bohan. He grabbed his WhiZ from his coat pocket and speed dialed '4'.

The phone read "Calling... Gary".

"Hello?"

"Hey Gary, it's me, Jack. Listen, I can't make it to your house so could you let Katie sleep over for the night?"

"Yeah sure man. See ya tomorrow. Oh wait, Katie wants to say good night."

Jack smiled, he loved hearing her voice.

"Good night daddy!"

His smile stretched from ear to ear, "G'night sweetie. Good night."

He hung up his phone and slipped it back in his coat pocket. In a half hour he pulled up by his apartment building and parked across the street. Locking the doors, he slowly walked towards his apartment building. His neck had a kink, but he ignored it. As he did with all his body pains.

Grabbing and unhooking his keyring from his belt hoop, he looked through the keys untill he came up to a three holed key. Holding the key steady, he slipped it in the door, then pushed it open. He walked upstairs to the second floor, then pulled up his keyring. His door key sparkled with a pink glitter his daughter glued on accidently. He loved it.  
The smallest thing she did made him happy. He unlocked his door and pushed inside, tossing his keys onto a black chair. Shutting his door tight and locking it, he kept his coat on. He closed all the windows.  
Yet he still felt cold. He took off his jeans and put on sweat pants. He zipped up his coat, put his baseball cap on, and lay in bed with the thick blankets and sheets. He still felt cold. He felt like something was missing, and he knew it. He knew what was missing.

His daughter.

He checked his watch, 1:45 am. He sighed, then placed his phone on the table by his bed, then shut his eyes.  
After hours, he finally fell asleep, only to dream about his daughter.

He has repeated this process for three years


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Breaking the Process

Jack's eyes opened slowly. The bright sun irritated him. The sun always irritated him in the mornng.  
Within seconds, he was in the bathroom brushing his teeth.  
He stared at the man in the mirror. The man had a buzzcut, pale skin and gray eyes. So dull. So very dull.  
Jack, brushing his teeth, looked around the room from the reflection. He had a headache. What else is new...  
He shifted his gaze from his pale face to his chipped dog tags. He served three years in the USMC. He was thirty-two with a five year old daughter living in the &# of Bohan.

He spit out the mouthwash. His mouth was stinging from it. He unzipped his coat and put on a different shirt, then zipped it back up. He pulled on a pair of black jeans. He checked his watch, 7:43. He grabbed his WhiZ and TV remote.  
Clicking the TV on to channel 4 news, he speed dialed Gary's phone number.  
While ringing, he watched the news.

"Today will be a cool day as we will be having snow by midday today. Thirty degrees so far for Liberty City, but Vice City has it different. Hot hot hot hot HOT over there. In other news..."

"Hello?"

"Hey Gary, it's Jack."

"School will be out for Elementary school goers."

"Hey, Gary, no school for Katie today."

"Gotcha."

"Factory workers may be layed off, reasons for this are..."

"I'm going to pick up Katie after work, okay?"

"What time you get off?"

"Three pm. Getting off early today. So what was for dinner yesterday?"

"Hot pizza."

"Figures. Alright man, I gotta get going. Oh by the way, I'm working a double tomorrow. Gonna need you watch Katie again."

"Alright man, seeya later."

"Later."

He hung up his phone and shoved it in his pocket. Grabbing his keys and shutting off the TV, he was out the door.

Thirty minutes later, Broker

Jack drove through the streets of Broker slowly. Children were having snowball fights with the small amounts piled on the side of the streets. The streets were icy, hard to drive on. Black ice nearly caused him a car crash last year.  
But people on the streets seem to ignore the ice. They were speeding along the roads, listening to rap music to its highest volume, causing a irritating vibration of the streets. Jack muttered something about them having no consideration.  
He continued along the road, in about an hour he'd be in Dukes. He worked in a factory that made car parts. He got the job three years ago, when Gary introduced him to the factory owner. Ever since then, he came home every two weeks with eight-hundred dollars. Most of his money came from working overtime.  
Jack turned up his radio, listening to Liberty Rock. He enjoyed rock music. He liked some rap, but never the kind they were playing. The lyrics never made any sense.

Jack checked his watch, 8:17 am. Good, he had time. Along the road, he parked in the parking lot of a Dunkin' .Éclairs and bought a coffee and Éclair.  
The drive to Dukes took forever, but after sometime, he was finally there. Parking his car in the parking lot, he pulled on his hood and walked to the front door.

"Hey... Hey dude..."

Jack turned around. Behind him was a fellow co-worker he had seen around the factory. "What?"

"Factory's closed."

"What? Why?"

"They layed everyone off. Every single one of them."

"Why?"

"You be askin' a lot of questions. They layed everyone off because there was a car accident. No no, there were like... three accidents. Brakes on the car didn't work."

"How the hell is that possible?"

"They sayin' that we didn't build the brakes right."

"We don't make the brakes..."

"Well all I !#&' know is that it be closed down! For good! No longa open! Get that, buddeh?"

"...Sorta."

In a distance, Jack heard screaming. At first it sounded like children, but then the voices were thicker. Then, he heard a gunshot.  
Gunshots never happened in the day. Only when something bad happens.

When one gunshot is heard, they are always followed with more.

Jack jumped in his car and drove off as fast as he could. He went in the opposite direction the shot. But it was closer than he thought. The next shot was just down the street Jack was driving on. The next bullet came right through his windshield.   



	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Only Little Lady Important to You

Jack stomped on the gas, speeding past the raining bullets and spraying blood. He was going eighty mph. He continued at this speed for five minutes, hearing mothers yell "Slow the hell down moron!" and "You got a God damn brake! Use it you !#& 'in idiot!" He slowed down after reaching a red light. His heart was racing a fast as he was moving. Slowing up on the gas, he silently drove to Gary's house. The only sound that was heard was his radio.

He pulled up by Gary's house in twenty minutes. He didn't bother to lock the doors.  
Knocking on the door with his high and low knocks, Gary was familar with it, and opened without checking to see who it was.  
"Hey man, shouldn't you be at work?"

"I got layed off."

"Oh damn..."

"I need you to help me find a job at your company."

"Well, I helped you get hired at the factory before I was fired, Jack. I guess I can help you out, but the highest you'll get his nine dollars an hour."

"It'll do..."

"Dude, what the !#& happened to your car?"

"What the hell does it look like? I was on my way here when these guys broke out into shooting."

"You're lucky you didn't get killed, that shot is pretty close to your head."

Jack ran inside when he saw Katie. Picking her up and hugging her gently he said, "Hi sweetie, how was your day with uncle Gary?"

"It was great! We had pizza!"

"Again?" Jack turned to Gary with a grin.

"Low fat..." Gary mumbled.

Jack hugged Katie again, "Katie, what'd you say you, Gary and I go to the carnival?"

"Really!? You mean it, daddy?"

He smiled at her, "I mean everything I say."

They went to the Carnival, taking Gary's car. Jack felt weird about the incident. He felt so scared, so scared that he could have been killed. If he were killed, is daughter would only know her father for five years of her life.  
That scared him. He hated Liberty City. He didn't want to die and miss out on his daughter's life.

He bought her a blue cotton candy. She loved it, and he loved the fact that she loved it. Whenever she smiled, it was like the freezing weather didn't exist. It was like all the problems of losing his job, nearly losing his apartment, seem to not exist. She helped him get passed his fear. She helped him learn to struggle with his problems.

Even though she already knew it, he said to her "I love you."

But she had no idea how much she has changed his life. How important she was to him. If something happened to her, he wouldn't be alive for too long.  
After a few hours, he checked his watch, 5:46 pm. "Alright guys, last ride, and we gotta go."

"Awww... How come, daddy? It's just getting fun! The firewurks start at six fourty ten!"

He chuckled. Ignoring her '6:4010' he said, "Sweetie, I'm sure there will be fireworks. But they won't be legit. Now, last ride. Choose it!"  
She looked around the carnival, then pointed towards a ride. The Teacups. Gary shook his head, "No no no no no no... No. I AM not going on the teacups. No. Never again."  
Jack laughed at his coward friend, "C'mon, Gary. Just do the ride once." Gary continued to shake his head.  
"I am never going on those. I always vomit."  
"I'll give you five dollars."  
"Ten." Gary.  
"Four." Jack.  
"Two." Gary.  
"Done." Jack.

Jack handed Gary a two dollar bill and they went on the ride. It spun around, all three in the same cart. Gary's face was becoming deathly pale.  
After the ride, Gary puked in a trash can. He didn't stop for two minutes. After he was done, he grinned, "Atleast I have two dollars." He pulled out the dollar bill, then noticed something about the person on the dollar. It was a picture of Bill Clinton and on the sides it read 'sex is two dollars'.  
Gary threw a rock at Jack and walked to the car, sad he didn't get his money, and laughing that he fell for it.

On the ride home, Jack made comments about Gary's puke on his sweater. After a few minutes, Gary took off his sweater and put it in the trunk. Jack made a call to his boss to confirm that he actually lost his job. He did.  
"It's alright, man. I'll help you get into my company. If you get at my post, you'll be making twenty dollars a night."  
Jack sighed and agreed. He asked Gary if he and Katie could stay the night, and Gary said sure.

"Don't wake her up, now." Gary whispered. They silently walked to the front door. Jack held Katie in his arms. She had scarlet red hair and bright green eyes. She looked just like her mother.  
Jack began thinking of her mother. How could she leave like that? Aftet ten months, she leaves? Jack wanted to hate her. He wanted to hate his daughter's mother but couldn't. He just didn't care for her anymore. She didn't exist to him anymore.  
Katie was the only little lady that was important to Jack.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Come back to daddy...

When a man has a daughter, he feels as if something in his life has gone a different path. A new world, new love, new feelings, has opened up. Something they could have never imagine appears, and when it is takin' away, something horrible happens to a man's sanity.  
Something always does.

Jack stood there. He stood in the emergency room, blood stained on his hoodie and hands. The blood of his best friend, the person he loved next to his daughter. He never knew the pain he'd feel. No, not the physical pain. Though he could have sword his heart stopped for a second. But, emotional pain.  
Gary had been shot.  
He had so much anger, so much that it consumed it. Filled him, and made him feel slightly better. He kicked chairs, hit the walls, pushed carts over, but all of it never made him feel better. None of his destruction made him feel better.  
He collapsed on his knees, head sunken between his arms and laying on the chair, crying.  
He was scared. Not for Gary (which made him feel guilty), but for his daughter, Katie. She had been kidnapped.

Nothing could prepare him for this. It was hard to breath, hard to see, hard to move, and hard to think. His body moved without his control, his mind was blank, breathing seemed to be filled with imaginary stuffy air. His sight seem to be foggy, but he couldn't stop the pain. A huge spiked ball lay in his stomach, poking his insides, tearing up his organs, but nothing could feel any more worse than his daughter missing.

In reality, he was simply crying, not bothering to keep it down, but crying at his maxed volume. Tears slid down his smooth, wet cheeks. It seemed to be endless, he thought he coul drown in it if he weren't careful. He was tired, his daughter was missing, and his best friend had been shot.

What more could possibly go wrong?

At that moment, a doctor walked into the room. His face had no emotion, no sympathy, not one feeling.  
"Sorry to say, sir, but your friend is dead. Died from his wounds." It was as if he told people this everyday, and he didn't care.

Jack's ears weren't working. He simply left the hospital without saying another word.  
Outside were the police. One of them walked over to Jack. He was very young, and his face had full sympathy, and it made Jack feel better than the doctor ever could.

"Sir, we're sorry to say but your friend was attacked, we truly are."

Jack muttered something, but even he himself couldn't figure out what he said. He walked past the cop and into his car, and drove away.

The drive home was filled with tears. Jack found it hard to cry, but he managed to bump into another car's bumper while stopping at a red light.

"Hey &#! Watch where the hell you're going!" the man stepped out of his car and began walking to Jack's.  
"What the hell is your problem, huh? You fkin' drunk or something?!"

Jack glanced at him, and quietly and calmy, said "Get away from my car."

"FCK YOU! Pay for my damaged bumper you dk!"

Jack couldn't make himself any clearer, "Get away from my car."

"Didn't you f--"  
Jack slammed his car door into the man's fat stomach, then grabbed him by the neck and slammed his thick skull on the hood of his car, "I said get the fck away from my car you thick fck. Does it look like I'm in the mood?" Jack tossed the man back onto the concrete. He walked back into his car and drove off, leaving the fat man crawling to his car.

His drive was horrible. He was being yelled at by moms, old men, old women, everyone. He kept speeding up, then slowing down. His foot was numb and his mind wondered off, accidently going 80mph without realizing.  
Sometime later he was sitting in his black chair in his apartment, holding his phone.  
He was trying to build up the courage to call Cindy with the number she left months ago when she called to ask Jack how Katie was. His eyes were bright pink, he had four empty tissues boxes on the counter to his right. He had bought them a week ago for Katie when she had a cold.

He finally had the guts to call. Just a few seconds of ringing and Cindy's soft voice crawled through the phone, "Hello?"

"Cindy... It's Jack."

"Hi Jack... w-what do you want?"

"Katie--... she... She's..." he choked, he pulled the phone away, holding his breath so he wouldn't cry.

"I know... I got the phone call."

"Wh--... You know? You're not worried... a-... At all?"

"Why should I be, Jack?"

These words make no sense. Jack couldn't comprehand 'why, should, I, be,' all in one sentence. It was like these words weren't part of the english language.  
"How... How can you... How can you say that?!"

"Jack, she's your daughter, not mine. I have my own kids, it's your fault."

"SHE'S YOUR DAUGHTER TOO!" Jack coughed, he was stabbed in the heart by 'your fault'.

"No no, she's your responsibility. It's YOUR fault. She doesn't exist to me, nor do you."

Jack had never felt such hatred. He couldn't comprehand what she was saying. His soul was bleeding with hatred and depression, to bloodtypes he had never felt at once before.  
"Say... DON'T SAY THAT AGAIN YOU HEARTLESS BITCH!"

"I... Don't.. C-"  
Jack slammed the phone down. He hung up on Cindy before she could finish. He didn't want her to finish. He hated her so much. So much.

Jack stood up from the chair, then tossed the phone across the room. He ran over to it then stopped on it as hard as he could. With each stomp, he screamed a word.  
"I- FKING- HATE- YOU- YOU- HEARTLESS- BITCH- I HOPE- YOU DIE!"  
He stopped then kicked the remains away from the wall. His legs were so numb he hadn't realized he hadn't fallen to the ground. Tears dripped from his eyelashes. He crawled into the corner of the wall, both his knees arched upward.  
He let his head fall into his hands, crying without bothering to keep the noise down. He knew Mr. Petrovic doesn't like noise, but he didn't care.

From what he thought was an hour of crying he finally stopped, then grabbed the golden locket that dangled from his neck. He clicked it open, then eyed the picture inside.  
It was a picture of Katie on her first swingset. Her face was bright with happiness. Jack smiled weakly, he was glad he still had this.  
He glanced at the other picture. Katie was four years old, and she was on the beach for the first time. Her smile stretched from ear to ear, as did Jack who was right behind his daughter, crouched down and hugging her.  
He remembered that Gary had takin the picture. It was last summer, sometime before her birthday.  
His forehead slapped against the locket, his words to clogged with crying to be made out.

Finally, he finally cleared his throat. His entire face was red.  
"Katie... Katie... Katie... I love you, Katie... Daddy loves you... Please come back to daddy... Please come back, Katie.  
Come back to daddy..."  
And for the entire night, Jack held Katie's teddy close to his chest, her picture wrapped between his chest and the bear.  
He felt as if he had hypothermia.  
And for the entire night, he kept crying. Kept saying four words.  
"Come back to daddy..."   



End file.
